ToKCast
This podcast focuses on the work of philosopher and physicist David Deutsch, covering topics like Popperian epistemology, the books 'The Beginning of Infinity' and 'The Fabric of Reality', and related subjects such as resources, environmentalism, economics, science, and reason.
Episodes
Ep 271: Super Intelligence: Then and Now. Fiction and Reality. Part 1
This is Part 1 of 2 where I compare and contrast what philosophers were saying about the possibility of "Super Intelligence" many years ago with respect to the discourse today. What did Nick Bostrom say over a decade ago, and what is he saying today? How is the discourse being framed and what are the major commentators saying, in their own words?
Ep 270: The Gradient Descent into Doom.
A spontaneous set of comments on the ongoing AI scare of 2026. What's happening in the media right now, on social media, in culture and at the highest levels of government. Why the pessimism and catastrophism? What can be done? Quite a few slides are referred to, but I do read through them. Incase you want the video - it's here: https://youtu.be/mItTFoYSCcA
Ep 269: The Quantum Observer Effect?
Youtuber Warren Smith of https://www.youtube.com/@SecretScholars made some remarks about the double slit experiment. I assess his claims.
Ep 268: AGI has arrived podcast
Today CEO of the world's most valuable company, Nvidia, Jensen Huang, announced "AGI has arrived". https://x.com/JensenHuang/status/2096700264569090384?s=20 Some reflections on all that.
Ep 267: The Orthogonality Thesis is Moral Relativism. (Response to Sam Harris on AI).
This is in response to episode 489 of Sam Harris' "Making Sense" podcast - in a section only available via subscription. I have clipped the approximately 60 seconds worth of material I am narrowly responding to for fair use in this commentary. The case unpacked is, roughly, that morality can be disconnected from (is orthogonal to) reason broadly is no more than a restatement of moral relativism -
Ep 266: Facts, Fantasy and Critical Thinking
A analysis in Popperian style of Candace Owens' "mode" of debate and discussion, approach to evidence and thinking and a comparison to the more mainstream evaluations of this debate.
Ep 265: David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" Chapter 14 "The Ends of the Universe" Part 2 The Omega Point
All about the distant future. What does cosmology tell us about the fate of the universe, life and intelligence in some ultimate sense? Frank Tipler's The Omega Point Theory is the primary focus, but throughout we consider the centrality of The Turing Principle for predictions about the future of the cosmos, Roger Penrose's "Conformal Cyclic Cosmology" and some of Freeman Dyson's ideas.
Timestamp
Ep 264: David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" Chapter 14 "The Ends of the Universe" Part 1
What do our best explanations tell us about the ultimate ends of the universe? What is the difference between forming a world view about any one of the four strands (evolution, epistemology, quantum physics or computation) versus taking all four of them seriously?
Ep 263: David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" Chapter 13 "The Four Strands" Part 4 - and final.
How do the Four Strands of the Fabric of Reality - Quantum Physics, Computation, Epistemology and Evolution by Natural Selection hold together? What does taking them each seriously and all of them together seriously? Is it possible to construct a worldview without one of them or based on a single one alone? What do they imply about free will and consciousness? Doesn't making progress require us to
Ep 262: David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality" Chapter 13 "The Four Strands" Part 3
This episode is heavily focussed on Dawkin's "Selfish Gene" explanation of Darwin's evolution by natural selection. Obviously there are readings from the relevant part of this chapter from The Fabric of Reality but I augment that with sections from "The Selfish Gene" itself as well as "The Beginning of Infinity" as well as a larger portion of me providing additional unpacking and exposition.
Ep 261: Objective Morality II
Do not destroy the means of error correction. A deep unification of knowledge akin to unifying quantum theory with computation to create the theory of quantum computation. David Deutsch will be known for not merely forging the basis of quantum computing but also a new basis for morality and epistemology. I explain much of that here. "What should we do next?" is a question with an answer that is ri
Ep 260: I don't believe it!
Response to a question about my discussion with @drpeterboghossian here: https://youtu.be/72vhtT0pFmA?si=hAx1kPho4DkLkBFN This is yet another way of coming at a critique around the concept of "belief" or those who profess to "believe" and so on using Deutsch's approach that knowledge is "information with causal power". I explore that for around the first 40 mins. If you're in a hurry, skip to th
Ep 259: Reaction to Michael Levin Part 3: Bait and Switch, Podcastistan and Surprising(?) algorithms.
In this, the third and final part of a series, I break down some work Michael Levin has done with sorting algorithms. That seems very dry until you hear his claim that these algorithms that are well known and have been studied for decades exhibit extremely unusual behaviour never before spotted because "no one ever bothered to look". This part of the interview is between Ferris and Levin is referr
Ep 258: Reaction to Michael Levin, Part 2: Bioelectricity, Consciousness and Knowing
This is the second in a multipart series where I react to some interviews with @drmichaellevin a biologist who, among other things, specialises in bioelectricity. His research can be found here: https://www.drmichaellevin.org and his "explainer articles" for his own professional papers here: https://thoughtforms.life . In this episode I mention the discussion he had with @timferriss which is f
Ep 257: Reaction to Michael Levin, Part 1: Categories and Continuums.
This is the first in a multipart series where I react to some interviews with @drmichaellevin - a biologist who, among other things, specialises in bioelectricity. His research can be found here: https://www.drmichaellevin.org/publications/ and his "explainer articles" for his own professional papers here: https://thoughtforms.life . Although in this first episode I mention the discussion he had
Ep 256: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 13 ”The Four Strands” Part 2
Comparing Kuhn and Popper on Quantum Theory: Here we go deeper into the differences between Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn's account of how science moves from one theory to another. David applies the theory set out in part 1 of this chapter to the specific case of quantum theory. Did social forces have a major impact on whether quantum theory was adopted as Kuhn would have it, or were rational factor
Ep 255: Does this research explain how LLMs work?
I take a look at these three papers: 1. https://www.arxiv.org/abs/2512.22471 2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.23752 3. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22473 Collectively titled "The Bayesian Attention Trilogy" along with some other material - in particular an interview with one of the authors "Vishal Misra" - https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/faculty-staff/directory/vishal-misra For those familiar with
Ep 254: Australia: The Land of Bans. (Social Media prohibited for under-16s. Analysis of the arguments "for".)
This is effectively part 3 in a series of responses to the Prime Minister of Australia about censorship, legislation, policy, philosophy, Bondi and Social Media. The Prime Minister attempted to explain, as best he could, the reasons for banning under-16 year olds from certain social media platforms. I remark on an interview he conducted and make some broader remarks in conclusion to a short series
Ep 253: Further Comments on the Bondi Massacre.
Here I remark on comments made by Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Education Minister Jason Clare and then make some broader points about the recent tragedy on Bondi Beach. This is part 2 of a response to the Prime Minister of Australia and others.
Ep 252: Response to the Prime Minister of Australia
A reaction "episode" where I make some remarks about a speech by Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, in the wake of the Bondi Beach Massacre by Islamists terrorists who attacked Jews at a Hanukkah celebration on 14 December, 2025
Ep 251: OK Doomer!
This is a reproduction of a talk I gave to some trainee surgeons in Sydney who, among other things, were learning about AI as it was affecting their own field. It is, in a sense, a summary of many of the points I have been making recently on this channel with respect to AI and pessimism around it.
Ep 250: The Farthest Reaches - Audiobook
The Farthest Reaches is a book about "Explanatory Universality". Explanatory Universality is a concept introduced by physicist and philosopher David Deutsch in his book "The Beginning of Infinity".
Links, as mentioned in the audiobook can be found in the ebook available for free here: https://www.bretthall.org/the-farthest-reaches.html
This present work follows the logic of that concept as it app
Ep 249: The Farthest Reaches Part 4 and Conclusion
Chapters and Timestamps
00:06 Chapter 13: Explanatory Universality, Hangups and Sexuality
08:07 Chapter 14: The Woke Left and the Woke Right
15:38 Chapter 15: Universality and Optimism
25:04 Chapter 16: Universality and Artificial Intelligences
35:54 Chapter 17: Universality, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Reach
42:44: Chapter 18: Summary and Conclusions
Ep 248: AI and Philosophy of Science
This is the extended "director's cut" of a talk delivered for "RatFest 2025" (next year to be "Conjecture Con"). This also serves as a supplement to my "Doom Debates" interview which can be found here: https://youtu.be/koubXR0YL4A?si=483M6SPOKwbQYmzb
It is simply assumed some version of "Bayesian reasoning" is how AI will "create" knowledge. This misconception permeates the https://ai-2027.com pap
Ep 247: The Farthest Reaches Part 3
Chapters and Timestamps
00:07 Chapter 10 Explanatory Universality and Ethnicity
24:51 Chapter 11 Explanatory Universality and Multiculturalism
37:47 Chapter 12 Explanatory Universality and Mental Illness.
Ep 246: The Farthest Reaches Part 2
Chapters and Timestamps:
00:06 Chapter 5 Explanatory Universality, Psychology and IQ
03:30 Chapter 6 Explanatory Universality and Adopting Culture
11:47 Chapter 7: Explanatory Universality and IQ Part 2
17:10 Chapter 8 Explanatory Universality and the “trans” issue.
27:35 Chapter 9: Explanatory Universality and Immigration
Ep 245: The Farthest Reaches (Part 1)
Chapters 1 to 4 of a multi-chapter series about the reach of what I argue is one of the most important lessons to learn in order to solve many pressing problems: explanatory universality. This podcast provides an explanation that "explanatory universality" is an idea of such depth it may have among the greatest reach of any idea.
Chapters:
00:12 Chapter 1 - Universality and Reach
09:09 Chapter 2 -
Ep 244: Deep learning is not "inductive".
We are told by people working in the field, researchers and those who publish academic papers on the topic that artificial intelligence or deep learning or LLMs or Machine Learning or Recurrent Neural Networks - call them what you like - employ some form of inductive reasoning. But do they? What is inductive reasoning? What is deductive or adductive for that matter? Is "new physics" or other new s
Ep 243: In praise of ignorance - the podcast. With Liberty Fitz-Claridge
This episode is a reading of and reflection upon more writing by David Deutsch - an article you can find at https://takingchildrenseriously.com/in-praise-of-ignorance/
Joining me is philosopher and language educator Liberty Fitz-Claridge. Liberty holds Master Degrees in both Philosophy and Applied Linguistics and English Language teaching, as well as a Bachelors in The Philosophy of Science. As we
Ep 242: Is religion worth preserving?
Woke is a rejection of the truth, the good, the beautiful. Is the best response a return to traditional religion? Are some dogmas worth defending?
Ep 241: AI 2027 Reaction Part 5: Summary and Conclusions
A summary of some arguments made in the previous 4 parts, and a conclusion to my evaluation of https://ai-2027.com I refer to Daniel Kokotajlo's paper which contained an earlier set of predictions made in 2021 about the 5 years leading to 2026 which is found here https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6Xgy6CAf2jqHhynHL/what-2026-looks-like Note that Part 4 is here: https://youtu.be/C3jDjuSLBv0 Part 3 is
Ep 240: AI 2027 Reaction Part 4
Note that Part 3 is episode 239 or can be found here: https://youtu.be/7P-UlHiTins Part 2 is here: https://youtu.be/o3Rdj37UJjw Part 1 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_txKy-XMQ I react to the contents of this article https://ai-2027.com
Ep 239: AI 2027 Reaction Part 3
Episode 238 contains Part 2 of this podcast and Episode 237 is Part 1. Also all parts are available on Youtube as almost always. Eg here for part 2: https://youtu.be/o3Rdj37UJjw Part 1 is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_txKy-XMQ
I am reacting to the contents of this article https://ai-2027.com
Ep 238: AI 2027 Reaction Part 2
Note that Part 1 is found in Episode 237 or can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_txKy-XMQ
I react to the contents of this article https://ai-2027.com with some further general comments on @DwarkeshPatel 's interview with two of the authors here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htOvH12T7mU
Ep 237: AI 2027 Reaction. Part 1
I react to the contents of this article https://ai-2027.com with some further general comments on @DwarkeshPatel 's interview with two of the authors here: • 2027 Intelligence Explosion: Month-by...
Youtube version of this podcast is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq_txKy-XMQ
Ep 236: Max Velthoven, legal science, AI and epistemology.
Max is a tax lawyer who is applying Popperian epistemology to legal science and issues in AI. Links to some more of his work, and the slides to accompany part of this video are below. Slides for Max's talk(s):
https://www.bretthall.org/popper-and-legal-science.html
Max’s journal article on AI with Eric Marcus (in NLFiscaal TaxTech): NLFiscaal | Problems in AI, their roots in philosophy, and impli
Ep 235: The Simulation Hypothesis
This is a "megasode" combining two episodes from Youtube all about the Simulation Hypothesis. In the first part I provide the philosophical basis for the simulation hypothesis as explained especially by Nick Bostrom and compare it to other "ultimate" explanations of reality. In part 2 I discuss and evaluate the arguments made by Scott Adams and Joe Rogan who endorse some version of Bostrom's argum
Ep 234: On the Evolution of Reason
I recently had the opportunity to participate in "Spectrum Street Epistemology" with @drpeterboghossian and a number of others including @destiny . This episode was inspired by both that event and the many other conversations I had with Peter, Reid, David, Evan, Mia and Travis across the days I spent in Florida with those excellent people engaged in the important work of defending the Enlighte
Ep 233: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 13 ”The Four Strands" Part 1
The first part of my discussion of the differing visions of science and how scientific knowledge "grows" (or not) according to Thomas Kuhn vs Karl Popper as outlined in this chapter of "The Beginning of Infinity". Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" explains the concept of a "paradigm" and "paradigm shifts" comparing "revolutionary" and "normal" periods of science. Kuhn's work remains
Ep 232: Karl Popper's "The Myth of the Framework" Sections IV to VI. "The Critical Method": deep dive
The second in the series on "The Myth of the Framework" paper.
Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction with some reflections on Joe Rogan and Gad Saad
05:14 Section IVa reading - on “Confrontations”
06:32 Section IVa reflection
09:48 Section IVb reading
10:17 Section IVb reflection
12:14 Section IVc reading - tolerance and respect
13:26 Section IV c reflection on Herodotus and tolerance
15:08 Section IV d
Ep 231: Karl Popper's "The Myth of the Framework" Sections I to III. Discussing discussions: deep dive
I take another deep dive into a deeply insightful and original lecture by Karl Popper: The Myth of the Framework. In this first part (of 4) I spend most of the episode unpacking our motivations, Popper's own thoughts on his success in combating bad ideologies and the purposes of discussion. Indeed this piece can be considered an instruction manual for discussions: how to have them and why. Below:
Ep 230: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 12 ”Time Travel” Part 3
The best part! If you missed the others, don't miss this one. All four strands come together to explain the possibility of time travel and the intrigue that arises when considering travelling to "your" past or future to visit "yourself".
Rough timestamps follow: 00:00 introduction and the significance of virtual reality 04:03 Physically possible renderings and resolving paradoxes 07:30 what does V
Ep 229: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 12 ”TimeTravel” Part 2
An outside broadcast as you will hear. Image generation and virtual reality provide a window on the physics of time travel. Why is that? And what about all those time travel paradoxes? The resolution to all is found herein.
Ep 228: Knowledge Beyond Belief
An assortment of topics looking forward to 2025.
Timestamps:
00:00 Truth is indispensable
04:06 The “search for truth” is error correction
08:11 Remarks on selflessness and personhood. How can we square the two?
09:14 Decisions and free will and creativity
10:46 Truth and the two senses of “believe”.
13:30 Belief, epistemology and psychology
17:16 “Popperian” knowing.
18:07 Newtonian Gravity I
2
Ep 227: "What is Capitalism?" - an encounter between Objectivism and Critical Rationalism.
Live from Sydney, Yaron Brook and Nikos Sotirakopoulos join me on stage to discuss capitalism, liberty, personhood, energy policy, Israel and antisemitism and much more. Rough timestamps are here:
00:00 Brett’s welcome and introduction
02:32 Nikos on “What is Capitalism?”
04:21 Yaron on “What is Capitalism?”
07:33 Brett on the relationship between personhood and capitalism.
10:02 Nikos on why prog
Ep 226: Realism and the purposes of philosophy.
I discuss the point of philosophy and how "concrete" the work of Karl Popper and David Deutsch are in marshalling examples taken directly from science in order to illustrate how philosophy solves problems in other areas. Then I have some lengthy remarks on some recent criticism of Popper and Deutsch which is found here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-152605209
Ep 225: Livestream from November 27, 2024
A long "ask me anything" episode live and off the cuff. Apologies for the audio quality.
Ep 224: Shapes, Time, and Holism - by Julian Barbour
Julian Barbour is an independent British Physicist and the author of technical and popular books including the best selling "The End of Time" and most recently "The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time". In this lecture, Julian shows just how interesting Newtonian Mechanics can get. Can it be a fundamental theory of space, time and physical reality? This is a tour de force of the history of ideas in
Ep 223: The Deutsch Files IV (ToKCast version)
After a short introduction by me, the remainder of this episode is a reproduction of "The Deutsch Files IV" the latest in a series of conversations between myself, Naval Ravikant and David Deutsch about a wide variety of topics including, and sometimes going far beyond the contents of "The Fabric of Reality", "The Beginning of Infinity" and Constructor Theory. Go to https://nav.al to access all th
Ep 222: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 12 ”TimeTravel” Part 1
Is time travel into the past and the future possible? What is time dilation? Subjective and objective senses of "time travel". David Deutsch's own documentary on Time Travel from the BBB (192) https://youtu.be/C6_gxoLwrWw?si=8vw8cwbP49XkY6e8
Ep 221: Do Not Destroy The Means of Error Correction
Here I present a "positive vision" of the kind I complained was absent in the episode right before this ("Criticism is never enough"). Here I am riffing off a line which contains a deep truth out of the Beginning of Infinity where Socrates is speaking with the god Hermes. In that passage David links a moral injunction "Do not" to an epistemological concept (error). From this stepping stone I explo
Ep 220: Criticism is never enough
Another response episode. This time to Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson. Douglas and Jordan are seeking a way to construct a positive vision for society, but they seem at a loss for what in fundamental terms, this might include. Part 1 of 2.
Ep 219: Response to Peter Boghossian Part 3, Appendix
Parts 1 and 2 were, admittedly, long. So if you could not persevere through those, this gets the major points out serving both as an appendix to tie up some loose ends and as a summary of parts 1 and 2.
Ep 218: Peter Boghossian Response PART 2
Here I get to the part of the discussion Peter has about my own "airchat" explanation of "anyone can understand anything". I go through arguments based on the Church-Turing Principle, computational universality and how denials of explanatory universality are appeals to the supernatural and other topics.
Ep: 217 Peter Boghossian Response Part 1
The great epistemologist, Peter Boghossian, created a video on Youtube that responded to me, in part. It's to be found in full here: https://youtu.be/5Vf-T8K0_zE?si=T2XkG8h8iNj1ZXGR
This first part is largely a response to Richard Dawkins on his notion of "Middle World" and Michael Shermer's notion we are not evolutionarily capable of understanding anything.
Ep 216: Astrobiology and Cancer
Part 2 in a series about the work of researcher Charley Lineweaver. In this episode, a targeted focus on the one thing we did not discuss out of all of Charley's scientific interests in my interview with him in Ep 215: his recent work with Paul Davies on "The Atavistic Model" of Cancer. For the peer reviewed paper on The Atavistic Model by Lineweaver and Davies see: https://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~cha
Ep 215: Charley Lineweaver
A conversation with physicist, cosmologist, astrobiologist, polyglot and polymath - Charley Lineweaver.
00:00 - My introduction
08:57 - Charley’s fascinating early years
12:14 - From an English/History degree to physics
13:53 - Charley’s historic work on the Cosmic Microwave Background
17:34 - Methods of probing deep space
19:51 - Our accelerating universe
22:15 - Dark Matter Candidates
23:20 -
Ep 214: Resources, Wealth, Technology, Error Correction and Knowledge Creation
The title is long enough so you look for more here? ;) This one is largely, in truth about energy and what it can do for us. Across the almost 90 minutes I cover how the concepts in the title logically cohere and depend one upon the other and we take a look at "the universal constructor" and compare the possibilities for an optimistic distant future with the reality of our situation now. Fair warn
Ep 213: ToKCast in Auckland - live
This is a recording (with a brief introduction first) of a keynote address I gave to open the 2024 "Naturalistic Decision Making Association" conference. People from business, government and academia came together for 3 days to talk about how to make better decisions under pressure. It was an opportunity for me to share the work of David Deutsch and Karl Popper with everyone from people working in
Ep 212: Livestream 3, June 28 2024
More questions, more lengthy and more verbose than ever. Enjoy, or drift of to sleep with me ;)
Ep 211: Livestream 2, June 26 2024
Fear not! ToKCast is not becoming a pure Q&A "show". This is literally a kind of "break" for me that I find easy and I note the listeners find fun. Today's a little shorter and - here's some of the topics covered!
00:00: David Deutsch mentioned on Lex Fridman
04:15: Dennis Noble debates Richard Dawkins on the selfish gene
16:47: The goal driven life and AI
27:51 Self similarity - minds and u
Ep 210: Livestream - Question, Answer and repeat for 2+ hours
I put out a call on Twitter/@X for questions and got a deluge. Between those and more from YouTube itself - this is the result ranging over predicting the future, through to theories of learning, AGI and AI, optimism and epistemology - many of the major hits and more.
Ep 209: Rational Decision Making
Riffing on Karl Popper and David Deutsch (especially). A broad overview, covering lots of the basics of "social" or "rational" choice theory, Bayesianism (again!), misconceptions, good ideas and bad. Errors my own as always.
Ep 208: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 11 ”Time: The First Quantum Concept” Part 3
Here we explore the distinction between classical notions of time (including spacetime physics) as approximations to how time is understood in the multiverse. How perfectly deterministic laws lead to subjective unpredictability. Consequences for free will, questions about what happened before time began (or after it ends), new discoveries since the publication of The Fabric of Reality was publishe
Ep 207: Variations on a Conjecture
If you are distracted by, or simply prefer a version without, the background music - you can find that here: https://youtu.be/xSbqTTs1nl0
My preferred version is here: https://youtu.be/2IneL4VpShE as there are some helpful (though not essential) visuals.
This is about knowledge creation and the the commonalities between the two forms known (evolution (by natural selection) and explanatory) and t
Ep 206: Sam Kuypers (Time: The First Quantum Concept Part 3 - and more).
Sam Kuypers is a theoretical physicist who specialises in the physics of time. If you have the time, Sam can take up as much of it as you like telling you about how our ideas of time have changed…over time. As Sam will reveals: times, they are not a-changing. But there is change! Newtonian physics has a notion of time (or at least Newton himself did), Relativity as discovered by Einstein in the ea
Ep 205: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 11 ”Time: The First Quantum Concept” *Part 2*
Part 2: Time is in the instant. The instant is not in time. More on the quantum theory of time and how the "spacetime" view of time, and the flow of time are false. How time relates to the "block universe" model and how the multiverse fixes the paradoxes at the heart of our common sense (and classical physics) ideas about time - more readings from "The Fabric of Reality" chapter 11 and in addition
Ep 204: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 11 ”Time: The First Quantum Concept” Part 1
This is really "episode 0" but not quite because we do indeed get to some readings and unpackings of the chapter. But in the overall scheme, that forms a minor part of a longer introduction to the "common sense" understanding of time and then to some relativity (of simultaneity) and reflections on the work of other physicists and popularisers.
Note clips from "The Lord of the Rings" and "Spaceba
Ep 203: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 10 ”The Nature of Mathematics” Part 4
Some more long introductory remarks and commentary throughout readings of the closing pages of the chapter culminating in the explanation of the "punchline" conclusion of the chapter which is: "Necessary truth is the subject matter of mathematics. It is not the reward we get for doing mathematics". This is a good exploration of fallibility, the relationship of physics to mathematics and how scienc
Ep 202: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 10 ”The Nature of Mathematics” Part 3
The nature of proof and mathematics as a creative enterprise. Not all that is true can be proved as such, the high hopes of David Hilbert for placing the entirety of mathematics on a "firm foundation", the mathematical world-shattering results of Kurt Gödel which frustrated that project, a history of proof and finally Roger Penrose and whether human brains are computers in the Turing sense. And so
Ep 201: Progress: Conserving the means of Error Correction. Free Speech, Free Trade and Democracy.
Drawing on Chapter 15 "The Evolution of Culture" from "The Beginning of Infinity" by David Deutsch and then applying it to some special cases.
Come and chat to me about this or anything else at https://www.getairchat.com/brett
Timestamps:
00:00 Speech, Trade and Democracy
02:39 Is Democracy under attack?
07:05 Free Speech as Error Identification
09:14 Limits on Free Speech?
13:02 Case Study 1: No
Ep 200: Chiara Marletto
00:00 Introduction
08:03 Interview Begins
09:42 How Chiara found herself at the foundations of physics
15:30 How Chiara found Everett
19:13 No Special Physics is required for Observers
21:02 What is a counterfactual? How is it linked to a constructor?
29:05 What is (classical) information? How is it different to quantum information?
32:30 Quantum Information is more constrained. This makes it more
Ep 199: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 10 ”The Nature of Mathematics” Part 2
The certainty of mathematics and its place in the supposed hierarchy of subjects (assumed to be above science which is itself above philosophy in turn). Some more remarks on Bayesianism and somehow ghosts and alien life.
Ep 198: Bayesianism
Everything and more one might ever want to know about the topic...that other epistemology people often talk about. The central project is to distinguish between 4 "species" of what is often called "Bayesianism"
1. Bayes' Theorem.
2. Bayesian Statistics.
3. Bayesian Reasoning
4. Bayesian Epistemology.
Actual timestampes and chapters are:
00:00 - Introduction to this podcast
02:55 Epistemology
Ep 197: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 10 ”The Nature of Mathematics” Part 1: Introduction
This episode is an introduction to the chapter. Although there are some readings, they are limited and I provide context by diving deep into David's more recent work on all this. Specifically we go through the connection of Chapter 10 here (published in 1997) and Chapter 5 "The Reality of Abstractions" from "The Beginning of Infinity" (published in 2011) and then also in light of David's recent sp
Ep 196: The Mother Military
Commentary (and Explainer) This podcast is largely an op-ed about the "feminisation" of Western militaries and the effect of so-called "diversity, equity and inclusion" ideologies on modern defence forces. I look at what the purpose of a military is and the tension between its aims and the ways some arms of some defence forces are "marketing" themselves to their own people. Of chief concern to som
Ep 195: Knowledge, Wealth and Constructors
Very brief readings from and lengthy reflections upon David Deutsch's paper "The Philosophy of Constructor Theory" published here https://link.springer.com/article/10.... and available in full here: https://www.constructortheory.org/por... #physics #knowledge #philosophy #epistemology #daviddeutsch #science
Also available on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMCx2Com7LU
Discuss this or an
Ep 194: David Deutsch’s ”The Fabric of Reality” Chapter 9 ”Quantum Computers” Part 4: Shor’s Algorithm
This is a "return to regular format" episode in one respect - readings from and reflections upon "The Fabric of Reality" but also a departure from regular formatting in another respect: I teach a bunch of simple mathematics. This is for those who might think "quantum computation" and "quantum algorithms" will be forever beyond me. They are not! I begin with (quite literally) primary school mathema
Ep 193: Effortless Stoicism
I recommend the version found here that contains visuals and music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlvgxEBekP4
However the same message will come through on this audio only podcast.
Full Credit for all ideas to:
James (Jim) Pierce
Naval and Nivi
and
David Deutsch
With mistakes all my own
See also James' website (and relevant article) here: https://www.james-pierce.com/writings/effortless-stoi
Ep 192: Where do ideas come from?
This is a cross-post from my Substack podcast "The 3Rs: Reality, Reason, Rationality" the text of which can be found here: https://bretthall.substack.com/p/where-do-ideas-come-from?sd=pf#details
This diagram is also relevant:
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